1. Field of the Invention
The disclosures made herein relate generally to motor vehicle based controller and sensor networks and, more particularly, to wireless gateway apparatus for interconnecting and bridging data between at least one vehicle based network and at least one external network.
2. Disclosure Information
Motor vehicles are commonly equipped with vehicle based data networks for connection and cooperative data exchange between vehicle electronic sensors and vehicle control modules. Such modules are networked to vehicle based engine management systems and other such vehicle operation systems. Several types of vehicle networks are in common use; one non-limiting example is the controller area network (CAN). The controller area network (CAN) is a multicast shared serial bus standard, originally developed in the 1980s by Robert Bosch GmbH. CAN was specifically designed to be robust in electromagnetically noisy environments and can utilize a differential balanced wired network serial line like RS-485. Another non-limiting example of a vehicle based network is a network based on the FlexRay™ protocol. FlexRay™ is a communications protocol driven by the FlexRay Consortium and developed to provide high data throughput for more recent motor vehicle developments in steer by wire, brake by wire and stability control systems, for example. Other vehicle network physical layers and protocols are known to those skilled in the art and are applicable to the vehicle network gateway apparatus as disclosed herein. The disclosures herein are not limited to the vehicle network hardware and protocols utilized, but are instead targeted to work with any vehicle based network.
It is known to provide off board vehicle diagnostic equipment which access vehicle based networks through hardwired vehicle network interconnect jacks located on the vehicle frame or cabin structures. Off board diagnostic equipment, say at a service or repair shop, can then conduct vehicle diagnostic analysis of sensor and command signals, vehicle management computer recorded error codes, as well as manipulate various control modules for diagnostic purposes. Since the information necessary to conduct vehicle problem diagnosis is readily available over the vehicle network, diagnosis of possible vehicle faults is made easier.
A limitation of conventional approaches to the accessing of vehicle networks from off board devices is that the devices typically share one common hardwired access point into the vehicle network. Each off board device connected to the vehicle network induces additional electrical loads and potential external noise into the vehicle network. The cumulative effect of the loading of the vehicle network from external off board devices may eventually cause the vehicle network to fault or crash, causing the vehicle sensor and controller modules to lose cooperative communication with engine and vehicle management systems with unintended and potentially serious consequences.
Another limitation of conventional approaches to accessing of vehicle networks from off board devices is the requirement that the off board devices need to be physically connected in a physical hardwired fashion to the vehicle network.
Another limitation of conventional approaches of diagnosing vehicle faults through the vehicle common hardwired access point is that the vehicle sensor and message data summary, statistical and logging functions that may be provided on the off board diagnostic devices are only available when the vehicle is connected to the off board diagnostic device, say in a repair or service facility, and are not available while the vehicle is on the road away from the shop and experiencing a fault. As can be understood, it is advantageous to the diagnosis and remediation of a vehicle problem to gather and record data before, at the occurrence of and for some time after the occurrence of a fault. Conventional approaches to interfacing vehicle off board diagnostic equipment to the vehicle network do not readily facilitate this.
Therefore, a vehicle network gateway that provides vehicle network data access to multiple off board diagnostic and computer based devices, electrically isolates off vehicle diagnostic and computer based devices from the vehicle networks, and which eliminates the deleterious effects of unwanted electrical loading and noise while providing security to the vehicle network would be advantageous. A vehicle network gateway apparatus, system and method which also gathers signal summary and statistics data on network message signals, provides data logging capabilities, and which bridges data between the vehicle networks and external networks, and provides wireless access of vehicle diagnostic data to diagnostic equipment in vehicle repair and service centers would be useful, advantageous and novel.